FCD, Colorado tangle at DSG Park in battle of playoff hopefuls

Commerce City, CO (Sports Network) - FC Dallas will attempt to vault itself
into a playoff position on Saturday with a win over the Colorado Rapids at
Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Dallas enters the weekend two points adrift of Colorado in the race for a
postseason berth, but in order to jump over the Rapids with three points on
Saturday the team must find a way to improve its form away from home.

Schellas Hyndman's team has earned seven points from its last three games, and
the club won its last away match, 3-1 at Chivas USA.

However, the victory over Chivas was just the team's second in 13 away
contests, something that must improve down the stretch if FCD is going to book
a place in the postseason.

Dallas is coming off of a 3-1 win over Vancouver last weekend as the club went
behind after just four minutes, but rallied to score twice in the final five
minutes to claim all three points.

The win not only moved Dallas three points clear of the Whitecaps, but Hyndman
is hoping it is the kind of result that can spark something even bigger.

"This was a game, tonight's game, that is so very important for the team,"
Hyndman said after the match. "It's not just the three points, it's
the confidence that the players have right now, the feel-good attitude and the
belief that they have in each other.

"These are the types of game that, if you look at your season and say, 'Where
did it turn?' you might say this was the game. We hope that that is the case."

The Rapids will be hoping to halt that momentum with their third win in four
games on Saturday, which would also strengthen the team's hold on a playoff
spot.

Colorado's 1-0 win over Los Angeles last weekend kept the team's own positive
momentum going as the Rapids have lost just once in their last 11 contests.

Lately it has been the play of Edson Buddle that has been a big difference as
the former Galaxy forward scored the lone goal in the win against his old
side, giving him a goal in each of his last three games.

And with things as tight as they are in the Western Conference, Buddle knows
how important it is to take advantage of games at home.

"It's good to be at home because of the altitude," Buddle said following the
win over the Galaxy. "Right now, like I said, all these games, because the
standings are so tight that every point counts, we just want to capitalize on
being home. They [FC Dallas] are not an easy team. I think we were up 2-0,
last time we played them, and they were able to get an equalizer so we have to
build on this game. We will enjoy this win and get better during the week."